Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences 51 (4): 277–288 (2014) Pakistan Academy of Sciences

Copyright © Pakistan Academy of Sciences

ISSN: 0377 - 2969 (print), 2306 - 1448 (online)
Research Article

Simulation and Parametric Study of Urea Decomposition Section

Sana Zahid*, Naveed Ramzan, and Masooma Rustam

Department of Chemical Engineering,

University of Engineering & Technology,
Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract: In this study, the simulation model for the decomposition section of the urea plant was developed by
using Aspen Plus. The decomposition reaction in the physical equipments such as heat exchanger, separator
and stripper was handled with the use of the combination of the equilibrium reactors and built-in physical
equipments in Aspen Plus. The thermodynamic model SR-Polar was used for the estimation of phase and
chemical equilibria, density and other thermodynamic properties of the system. The results of the simulation
were compared with the existing plant data and a good agreement was observed. Effects of the important
parameters such as temperature, pressure and CO2 VWULSSLQJVWUHDPÀRZUDWHRQWKHOLTXLGGLVWULEXWRUDQGst
separator were also discussed in the decomposition section of urea plant.
Keywords: ammonium carbamate, simulation, Aspen Plus, urea

1. INTRODUCTION decomposition and removal of ammonia carbamate

Urea is one of the most important fertilizers, which
is produced by the reaction of NH3 and CO2 at
high pressure and temperature [1, 2]. The energy
demands and environmental challenges for urea
process are very high. The need of optimization
and energy conservation has increased the interest
in simulation of urea plant [3]. There are three
different production processes of urea; once
through process, partial recycle process and total
recycle process. The most widely used process
is total recycle process among these processes
EHFDXVH WKLV SURFHVV LV PRVW ÀH[LEOH DQG HQHUJ\
HI¿FLHQW>@7KLVSURFHVVUHTXLUHVWKHVHSDUDWLRQRI
NH3, H2O and CO2 from the product stream. These
gases are recycled back in the form of ammonium
carbamate to the synthesis reactor to increase overall
conversion of the reactor. The removal of NH3 and
CO2 from the solution could be either carried out by
VWULSSLQJRUE\GHFRPSRVLWLRQSURFHVV7KHHI¿FLHQW
from urea rich solution in the evaporation section
leads to large energy savings. Hence the quality
of the product can be increased economically
[5]. Several studies have been done to investigate
thermodynamic modeling and simulation of urea
process [1-4, 6-8]. Most of the research studies
have been carried out concerning the most suitable
ÀXLGSDFNDJHIRUXUHDV\QWKHVLVVHFWLRQPRGHOLQJ
of synthesis section and the properties estimation
of ammonium carbamate (the intermediate product
in urea synthesis) [1-4, 8, 9] It has been observed
from the literature that there is a knowledge gap for
the study of urea decomposition, concentration and
recovery section. A very little work has been done
published for the simulation of these sections.
Bernardis et al [8] used the extended UNIQUAC
equation for simulation of the high-pressure urea
synthesis loop. Irazoqui and Isla et al [1, 2] treated
isothermal urea reactor as an internal coil and

————————————————
Received, July 2014; Accepted, September 2014
* Corresponding author: Sana Zahid; Email: sana.zahid@uet.edu.pk
278 Sana Zahid et al
main reactor and used the extended UNIQUAC
equation to calculate the VLE of NH3–CO2–H2O–
urea system. Hamidipour et al [3] performed the
modeling of synthesis section of an industrial urea
plant and also carried out dynamic study of some
of the parameters (e.g. pressure and liquid level in
the synthesis reactor) using tuned Willson equation.
Xiangping et al [4] used the extended UNIQUAC
method to describe the non-linearity of urea
system under high pressure and the vapor fugacity
FRHI¿FLHQW ZHUH GHWHUPLQHG XVLQJ 3HUWXUEHG
hard-sphere (PHS) equation of state. Brouwer
[10, 11] provided the thermodynamics and phase
equilibrium for the urea processes. Goharrokhi et al
[12] carried out the urea synthesis reactor modeling
based on the electrolytic system and studied the
effects of N/C ratio and the temperature changes.
=HQGHKERXGL HW DO >@ SURSRVHG DQ HI¿FLHQW
2. PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The production of urea commercially occurs at
high temperature (170 -200 oC) and high pressures
(13 to 25 MPa) by reaction of NH3 and CO2. Fig.
 VKRZV WKH SURFHVV ÀRZ GLDJUDP RI XUHD SODQW
Ammonia and carbon dioxide from ammonia
unit and ammonium carbamate from recovery
section are fed to urea reactor. In the reactor
two consecutive reactions such as the formation
of ammonium carbamate and dehydration of
ammonium carbamate take place to produce urea
and water. The formation of ammonium carbamate
is an exothermic reaction and this heat of reaction
is used to drive the endothermic dehydration of
carbamate.
2NH3 + CO2 NH4 COONH2
In recycle process, the synthesis mixture from the
DUWL¿FLDO QHXUDO QHWZRUN $11 WHFKQLTXH IRU WKH
simulation and optimization of the urea plant. The
developed technique deals with complex vapour–
liquid equilibria for the NH3–CO2–H2O–(NH2)2CO
system and considers the CO2 conversion in terms
of temperature and the molar ratios of NH3/CO2
and H2O/CO2 in the liquid phase for urea reactors.
Saima [7] performed the simulation of urea reactor
LQWKH$VSHQ3OXVFRQVLGHULQJDSOXJÀRZUHDFWRU
as a series of CSTRs and used the SR Polar method
for estimation of thermodynamic properties for
capacity enhancement.
In the present research study, the urea
decomposition section of an industrial plant
is simulated by using Aspen plus. The model
development of the decomposition section is carried
out using equilibrium reactors to ensure continuous
decomposition in the decomposition section. The
LQWHUDFWLRQ SDUDPHWHUV DQG ELQDU\ FRHI¿FLHQWV DUH
provided to apply SR polar thermodynamic model.
This model provides a good approximation for
(Vapor Liquid equilibrium) VLE of NH3–CO2–
H2O–urea system. The present research work
provides simulation approach for decomposition
section and simulation results are validated to real
plant. Further this model is studied for sensitivity
analysis.
reactor is sent to decomposition section where
NH4 COONH2 NH2 CONH2 + H2O
carbamate decomposes to NH3 and CO2. The NH3
and CO2 DUHVHSDUDWHGE\ÀDVKLQJDQGWKHVWULSSHG
off gases are absorbed in absorber in the recovery
section with a small amount of water to form
ammonium carbamate and this is recycled back in to
synthesis reactor. Heat generated in the absorption
process is utilized by the decomposers. While urea
rich solution leaving decomposer is sent to the
¿OWUDWLRQXQLWSULRUWRIXUWKHUFRQFHQWUDWLRQDQGWKHQ
prilling of urea takes place in the prilling tower.
Ultimately the urea is sent either for marketing or
for storage.
The main emphasis of this research is to model
the decomposition section of urea plant. Therefore
decomposition section of urea plant is discussed in
detail.
2.1 Decomposition Section
The decomposition section consists of
‡ +LJK3UHVVXUH'HFRPSRVLWLRQ
‡ /RZ3UHVVXUH'HFRPSRVLWLRQ
In high pressure decomposition, decomposition
is achieved by reducing the pressure and increasing
 Simulation and Parametric Study of Urea Decomposition Section 279

Fig. 1. 3URFHVVÀRZGLDJUDPIRUXUHDSODQW

Fig. 2. High pressure decomposition section of urea plant.

280 Sana Zahid et al

the temperature in following equipment as shown (26) from V-202 is sent to the second decomposer
in the (Fig. 2). (E-103) where it is heated from the low pressure
z 5HÀX[&RROHU( heat recycle stream (19) coming from the shell side
z Liquid Distributor (V-200) of E-10. It is then sent to the second separator (V-
z 1st Pre Decomposer (E-101) 203). The low pressure CO2 stream (29) leaving the
z 1st Decomposer (E-102) top of the second separator (V-203) is mixed with
z 1st Separator (V-201) low pressure gaseous stream (25) from V-202 and
then sent to the recovery cycle. Urea rich solution
Stream (1) from outlet of the reactor is splitted (30) is sent to evaporators where excess water is
into two streams; stream (2) and (3). Stream (3) is removed and the concentrated urea solution is then
VHQWWRWKHUHÀX[FRROHU(IRUFRROLQJE\DKHDW
recycle stream(5). After that its pressure is reduced
to 300 psi by a mini let down valve (B4) and then
it is introduced to the top of liquid distributor (V-
200). Stream (2) is sent to the bottom of the liquid
distributor (V-200) by reducing pressure to 300
psi through main let down valve (B3). This causes
WKHFRQVLGHUDEOHFRROLQJDQGÀDVKLQJRI1+3, CO2
and H2O. Stream (3) coming from the top of liquid
distributor reduces H2O and CO2 contents in the
off gas stream (10) from V-200. The stream (11)
from liquid distributor is divided into two streams
(12) and (13). Stream (12) is sent to the 1st pre-
decomposer (E-101) where it is heated by a heat
recycle stream (18).Which is further heated by a
185 psig steam in the 1st decomposer (E-102) and
then urea rich solution stream (17) is introduced
to the bottom of V-201. Stream (13) is used as a
UHÀX[ WR st separator (V-201). The CO2 stream
(20) is introduced from the bottom of 1st separator
for stripping and decomposition of ammonium
carbamate. CO2 rich stream (21) from the top of
V-201 is mixed with ammonia rich stream (10)
from V-200 and is mixed with heat recycle stream
(6) to recover its heat completely in E-101.
The low pressure decomposition includes the
following components (Fig.3):
z Second Flash Separator (V-202)
z Second Decomposer (E-103)
z Second Separator (V-203)
The product stream (24) leaving the bottom of 1st
sent to prilling tower and urea granular product is
stored in the storage vicinity.
3. SIMULATION MODEL DEVELOPMENT
The simulation of decomposition section of urea
is a challenging research area because of the
unavailability of thermodynamic properties of
urea, ammonium carbamate and biuret and solid
handling in commercial simulators such as Aspen
Plus & HYSYS etc. [14, 15].It requires a critical
approach in simulating urea production process in
Aspen Plus. The solid handling and VLE properties
of urea and ammonium carbamate are estimated in
$VSHQ3OXVXVLQJD)2575$1FRGHOLQNHU¿OHXUHD
dll and urea.opt based on a pilot plant data provided
E\ $VSHQ 7HFK >@ 7KH ELQDU\ FRHI¿FLHQWV DUH
added for urea and ammonium carbamate for the
estimation of other thermodynamic properties like
phase & chemical equilibria. The formation of
biuret is normally controlled by process conditions,
so plant is operated at the conditions where biuret
formation is negligible. The unavailability to
account for reactions in the physical separation units
and heat exchangers is handled by using Redrac
model for strippers [16]; and equilibrium reactors
before separators and heat exchangers. The analysis
of ammonium carbamate in plant is available in the
form of CO2 and NH3 only, so the carbamate is
estimated from the literature based on assumption
that the free CO2 is present to a minimum extent in
liquid phase.
VHSDUDWRULVVHQWWRWKHÀDVKVHSDUDWRU9DQG
GHFRPSRVLWLRQLVDFKLHYHGE\ÀDVKLQJ7KHJDVHRXV 3.1 Assumptions
phase is separated from liquid and concentration is The simulation of urea decomposition section is
further increased. The residual carbamate solution based on the assumptions:
 Simulation and Parametric Study of Urea Decomposition Section 281

Fig. 3. Low pressure decomposition section of urea plant.

Fig. 4. Aspen Plus Flow sheet of decomposition section of urea plant.

i. The process is at steady state; of air.

ii. Formation of biuret and other by-products has
been neglected;
iii. Free CO2 is present to a minimum extent in the
liquid phase and present only in the form of
ammonium carbamate;
iv. No carbamate and urea is present in gas phase;
and
v. All Inert gases are considered only in the form
,Q 3  ,' WKHUH DUH WZR UHDFWRUV DQG WZR UHÀX[
FRROHUV DQG LQ WKH DVSHQ SOXV WKH VLQJOH UHÀX[
cooler is modeled.
3.2 Thermodynamic Property Package
The model for thermodynamic properties is based
upon SR-POLAR. The model uses an equation of
state and is suitable for the non-ideal mixtures as
282 Sana Zahid et al

well as for even high temperature and pressure. Table 1. 5HDFWRUHIÀXHQWFRPSRVLWLRQLQWHUPVRI

Further, the model contains extensions that enable carbamate.
an accurate description of the phase and chemical Components % (Wt) lb/hr
equilibria, the density and other thermodynamic Urea 31.06 145305.07
properties (e.g., enthalpy). CO2 0.10 471.10
NH3 31.07 145382.03
The UNIQUAC thermodynamic package is
H2O 20.09 93985.15
used in previous studies [1, 2, 8], but in the present
Carbamate 17.67 82677.23
study it is not used because it assumes that under
Total 100.00 467820.57
high temperature (160 to 200°C) and relatively low
water concentration, the extent of ionization will be
Table 2. Real plant units and model developed in
small. Also, modern equations of state such as SR-
Aspen Plus.
POLAR model are well suited to the description of
thermodynamic properties of non-ideal systems. Real Plant Units Aspen Plus Model
Liquid Distributor Liquid Distributor Model
The SR-POLAR property method is based on V-200 o Equilibrium Reactor(B1,B2)
an equation-of-state model by Schwarzentruber o Mixers(B3,B5)
o RedFrac Model (Liquid Dist)
and Renon, which is an extension of the Redlich- 1st Pre Decomposer 1st Pre Decomposer Model
Kwong-Soave equation of state. SR-POLAR E-101 o Heater
o Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger
method can be applied to both non-polar and highly 1st Decomposer 1st Decomposer Model
polar components. It is also applicable to highly non E-102 o 1st Dec
o Equilibrium Reactor(B11)
ideal mixtures and mixture of light gases with polar o Mixer(B12)
and non-polar compounds. Reasonable results at 1st Separator 1st Separator Model
V-201 o Rectifying Section(1ST-SEPT)
any condition can be achieved, provided UNIFAC o Flash separator(B24)
interaction parameters are available. But results o Mixer(B14)
o Stripping Section(1ST-SEP)
are least accurate close to the critical point. The 2nd Flash Separator 2nd Flash Separator Model
simulation case is beyond the critical range thus V-202 o Equilibrium Reactor(B16)
o Flash separator(2ND-SEP)
this model can be used with UNIFAC interaction o Mixer(B17)
parameters. The system of ammonium carbamate 2nd Decomposer 2nd Decomposer Model
E-103 o Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger
is highly polar solution and there are some light (2ND-DEC)
gases along with the mixture. So the SR-POLAR o Equilibrium Reactor(B13)
o Mixer(B10)
is used for the estimation of phase equilibrium 2nd Separator 2nd Separator Model
for that purpose the temperature dependent binary V-203 o Flash separator(2ND-SEP)
parameters are used to accurately represent phase
equilibria. distributor and main feed for the liquid distributor.
,WGLYLGHVWKHVWUHDPRQO\RQWKHEDVLVRIÀRZUDWH
3.3 Simulation Model The composition, temperature and pressure remain
7KH UHDFWRU HIÀXHQW FRPSRVLWLRQ 7DEOH  LV
estimated from the assumption mentioned in section
3.1. The different equipments at the real plant are
modeled using built in aspen plus model described
LQ7DEOHVLPXODWLRQÀRZGLDJUDPLVVKRZQLQ)LJ
 DQG WKH VWUHDP LQSXW VSHFL¿FDWLRQV DUH JLYHQ LQ
Table 3. The simulation approach for the individual
units is described below.
 7KH UHDFWRU HIÀXHQW LV LQWURGXFHG WR 6 6SOLW
WRVSOLWWKHVWUHDPWREHXVHGDVDUHÀX[LQOLTXLG
FRQVWDQW7KHUHÀX[WROLTXLGGLVWULEXWRULVSDVVHG
to the double pipe heat exchanger which is modeled
as a Heatx model. Only one heat exchanger is used
instead of two to give the total surface area for the
simulation.
RedFrac model is used for the simulation of
liquid distributor. The purpose of liquid distributor is
to separate the free NH3 from the urea solution. The
decomposition in liquid distributor due to reduction
in pressure is accommodated by the introduction of
 Simulation and Parametric Study of Urea Decomposition Section 283

Table 3 Stream input data.

Stream Name &Number 5HDFWRU(IÀXHQW Heat Recycle (5) Steam CO2 stream (20)
Temperature (oF) 382 162.5 395 246
Pressure (psig) 3199 292.5 185 296
Total Flow (lb/hr) 467820.57 48847.35 52356 20709
Composition Wt% Wt% Wt% Wt%
Urea 0.311 0.132 - -
CO2 0.001 0.213 - 0.999
NH3 0.311 0.341 - -
H 2O 0.200 0.314 1.000 -
Carbamate 0.177 - - -
Air - - - 0.001
Total 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000

equilibrium reaction. The ammonium carbamate
decomposes to form NH3 and CO2 by reduction in
pressure and increase of temperature.
2NH3 + CO2 NH4 COONH2
This reaction is highly endothermic and
reaches to chemical equilibrium very quickly.
So the decomposition reaction is included in the
simulation as React1 to account for the reaction in
the RedFrac Models. The reaction is added as the
equilibrium reaction and model estimates the Keq
from the Gibbs free energy.
Four equilibrium stages are used in the Redfrac
model to separate the free ammonia from the urea
solution. The decomposition occurring because of
let-down valves is accommodated by the use of
the equilibrium reactors after let-down valves. The
pre-decomposer is designed as a combination of
a heater and a shell and tube heat exchanger. The
heater accounts for transferring of exothermic heat
of reaction of the ammonium carbamate formation
in the heat recycle stream and then the remaining
sensible heat transfer is carried out in shell and tube
heat exchanger.
1st Decomposer is a shell and tube heat
exchanger and the decomposition reaction of
ammonium carbamate also takes place in tube side.
In Aspen Plus, reaction cannot be accommodated
to the heat exchangers so an equilibrium reactor
is used to account for the decomposition in 1st
decomposer.
 7KH¿UVWVHSDUDWRULVPRGHOHGDVDFRPELQDWLRQ
of twR 5HG)UDF PRGHOV DQG D ÀDVK VHSDUDWRU
between them. As actual separator has three trays
at the top and three trays at the bottom and a larger
VSDFHIRUWKHÀDVKLQJDWWKHFHQWHU7RSVHFWLRQDFWV
DVDGLVWLOODWLRQFROXPQZLWKDUHÀX[VWUHDPIURPWKH
top. The bottom section acts like a stripping section
where medium pressure (MP) CO2 stream is used
as a stripping agent. The purpose of separator is to
remove most of the CO2 and NH3 by introduction of
MP CO2 as stripping medium.
So the unit is designed as a combination of three
units (Fig. 4):
z Rectifying section
z Flash separator
z Stripping column
Flash Separator is a simple vessel and
operating temperature and pressure are 228 oF
and 43.5 psig respectively. The decomposition in
WKH ÀDVK VHSDUDWRU LV FRQVLGHUHG E\ HPSOR\LQJ DQ
equilibrium reactor before it. The 2nd decomposer is
a shell and tube heat exchanger with an equilibrium
UHDFWRU6HFRQGVHSDUDWRULVDOVRGHVLJQHGDVDÀDVK
separator to separate the decomposed ammonium
carbamate in the 2nd decomposer. The temperature
and pressure of 2nd ÀDVK VHSDUDWRU DUH  oF and
28.45 psig, respectively.
4. MODEL VALIDATION
The licensors’ material balance of the liquid
distributor, 1st and 2nd separator is compared with
the simulation results. The results in Aspen Plus
are given in the form of carbamate, for the sake
284 Sana Zahid et al

Fig. 5.(IIHFWRIWHPSHUDWXUHRQWKHPDVVÀRZUDWHRIWKHOLTXLGVWUHDPRIOLTXLGGLVWULEXWRU

Fig. 6.(IIHFWRIWHPSHUDWXUHRQWKHPDVVÀRZUDWHRIWKHYDSRXUVWUHDPRIOLTXLGGLVWULEXWRU

of composition; the carbamate is mentioned as
ammonia and carbon dioxide. The results of Aspen
plus model are shown in Table 4 for validation.
1st separator is a single unit in actual plant
but it is simulated as a combination of three units
because of large disengagement region between
the top and bottom three plates. When the material
balance of the real plant is compared with the
Aspen plus model the results showed in Table 4
are more close to the plant model as compared to
modeling a single separator (for details, see [18]).
The material balance is compared for the purpose
of data validation across the 2nd separator as well.
The comparison of the results with the industrial
plant data showed a close agreement with the plant
data and the % error is ranging from 0 to 15%.
Hence the model can be extended for the purpose
of further studies.
 Simulation and Parametric Study of Urea Decomposition Section 285

Table 4. Model Validation of simulation results.

Liq. from Liquid Gas from Liquid
Stream Liq. from 1st Separator Gas from 1st Separator Liq. from 2nd Separator Gas from 2nd Separator
Distributor Distributor
Mass Mass Mass Mass
Mass Fraction Error Mass Fraction Error Error Error Error Error
Fraction Fraction Fraction Fraction
Plant Plant Plant Plant Plant Plant
Aspen % Aspen % Aspen % Aspen % Aspen % Aspen %
Data Data Data Data Data Data

Urea 0.412 0.407 1.00 0.000 0.000 0.00 0.571 0.572 0.19 0.000 0.000 0.00 0.661 0.655 0.92 0 0.001 100.00

CO2 0.116 0.117 0.86 0.053 0.049 7.54 0.064 0.058 10.74 0.380 0.388 1.95 0.023 0.02 13.04 0.225 0.243 8.00

NH3 0.229 0.233 1.72 0.874 0.883 1.09 0.072 0.072 0.13 0.527 0.527 0.04 0.024 0.023 4.35 0.48 0.418 14.81

H2O 0.242 0.243 0.41 0.073 0.067 8.81 0.293 0.299 1.97 0.093 0.085 9.18 0.292 0.302 3.31 0.295 0.338 12.78

Air - - - - - - - - - 0.000 0.000 1.84 - - - 0.000 0.000 0.00

Total 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.00 1.00 1.00

Mass Flow 176.51 178.24 0.87 57.40 55.67 3.01 127.19 126.95 0.19 59.67 61.41 2.83 09.86 110.31 0.40 8.79 9.01 2.45
(Ton/hr)

Phase Liq Liq Gas Gas Liq Liq Gas Gas Liq Liq Gas Gas

P (psig) 317.40 317.40 0.00 317.40 317.40 0.00 287.60 287.60 0.00 287.60 287.60 0.00 28.45 28.45 0.00 28.45 28.45 0.00

T ( oF) 250.00 250.90 0.36 263.00 263.00 0.00 280.00 279.40 -0.21 274.40 274.39 -0.004 30.00 230.00 0.00 230.00 230.00 0.00

5. SIMULATION RESULTS form and ammonia produced by decomposition of

5.1 Analysis of Liquid Distributor ammonium carbamate.

The purpose of the liquid distributor is to separate
WKH IUHH DPPRQLD SUHVHQW LQ HIÀXHQW IURP WKH
reactor so that the decomposition of ammonium
carbamate in the next sections is not hindered by
free ammonia present in urea solution. The effect
of temperature and pressure of liquid distributor is
also studied.
5.1.1 Effect of Temperature on the Liquid
Distributor
)LJVKRZVWKHHIIHFWVRIWHPSHUDWXUHRIWKHUHÀX[
In Fig. 6 the effect of temperature on the gaseous
stream is also shown in the liquid distributor. Free
ammonia is released to a maximum extent in the
liquid distributor. Increase in the temperature
RI UHÀX[ OLTXLG LQFUHDVHV WKH PDVV ÀRZ UDWH RI
NH3 in gaseous phase appreciably, showing the
decomposition of the ammonium carbamate.
While the water vapor and CO2 does not change
appreciably as the liquid from the top of liquid
distributor suppresses H2O and CO2ÀRZLQYDSRU
phase. Urea composition is not shown in Fig.6 as
urea remains in the liquid phase.
OLTXLG VWUHDP  RQ WKH PDVV ÀRZ UDWHV RI 1+3,
CO2, H22 DQG XUHD 7KH PDVV ÀRZ UDWH RI 1+3
and CO2 deceases with the increase in temperature
of stream (4) while that of H2O and urea remains
constant. There is only a slight decrease in CO2 as
compare to NH3 as CO2 in liquid stream condenses
with ammonia to form ammonium carbamate. This
slight decrease in CO2ÀRZ UDWH LQGLFDWHV WKDW WKH
decomposition of ammonium carbamate is very
VPDOO7KHGHFUHDVHLQPDVVÀRZUDWHRIDPPRQLD
is more pronounced than CO2 in the liquid stream
of liquid distributor due to ammonia present in free
5.1.2 Effect of Pressure on the Removal of NH3
from Liquid Distributor
The amount of ammonia decreases with increase
in pressure of the liquid distributor (Fig. 7). High
pressure section of decomposition acts as the heat
source for the decomposition in the low pressure
section, so the pressure is maintained in such a way
that the removal of NH3 and CO2 LV VXI¿FLHQW WR
meet the heat loads of low pressure decomposition
section.
286 Sana Zahid et al

Fig. 7. Effect of pressure on ammonia removal in Liquid Distributor.

Fig. 8. Effect of CO2VWULSSLQJJDVÀRZLQWKHYDSRUVWUHDPRIst separator.

5.2 Analysis of 1st Separator is why sensitivity analysis is considered in the

1st separator is one of the critical equipment of
decomposition section. The purpose of separator is
to remove NH3 and CO2 from liquid stream leaving
from 1st decomposer. The relatively colder stream
LV GHOLYHUHG DV D UHÀX[ VROXWLRQ WR WKH WRS RI WKH
WUD\ 7KH SXUSRVH RI UHÀX[ VWUHDP LV WR GHFUHDVH
water vapor contents in the gaseous phase. High
temperature leads to hydrolysis of urea and that
temperature range of 270 -275 oC.
5.2.1 Effect of CO2 Stripping Gas on the Stripper
A stream of CO2 is introduced through the 1st
separator bottom tray for stripping of some of the
residual ammonia from urea product solution.
Fig.8 shows increase in CO2 VWULSSLQJ JDV ÀRZ
UDWH LQFUHDVHV WKH PDVV ÀRZ UDWH RI 1+3 and
 Simulation and Parametric Study of Urea Decomposition Section
Fig. 9. (IIHFWRI&2VWULSSLQJJDVÀRZLQWKHOLTXLGVWUHDPRIst separator.
CO2 in vapor stream. The sharp increase in CO2
VKRZVWKHÀRZRIWKHVWULSSLQJJDVDVZHOODVWKH
decomposition of ammonium carbamate. While
WKHUHLVDVOLJKWLQFUHDVHLQPDVVÀRZUDWHRI+2O
that shows the evaporation of water in vapor phase
and urea remains constant as it does not strip off.
Fig.9 presents the effect of CO2VWULSSLQJJDVÀRZ
on liquid stream of 1st separator. The quantity of
ammonia and water is decreased with the increase in
PDVVÀRZUDWHRIVWULSSLQJ&22:KLOHWKHPDVVÀRZ
rate of CO2 is increased with the increase in mass
ÀRZUDWHRIVWULSSLQJ&22. It has been observed that
there is a little formation of ammonium carbamate
along with the decomposition of ammonium
carbamate. The amount of urea remains constant in
the liquid phase.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Simulation model developed for the decomposition
section of urea plant can be used for optimization
purposes. It can also be used to investigate
the effects of operating conditions on the
decomposition of carbamate. Hence the model is
suitable for conservation of energy and optimized
SODQWSHUIRUPDQFH7KHPRGHOLV¿QHWXQHGWRWKH
operating plant and the error (%) is small which
makes it acceptable for further studies.
287
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the support provided by the
Department of Chemical Engineering Univeristy of
Engineering and Technology, Lahore for conducting this
research.
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